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Tag Archives: Iranian film
The Color of Paradise (1999); Dir. Majid Majidi
Expect Spoilers A little blind boy named Mohammad sits on a bench outside his school in Tehran. It is the beginning of summer vacation and parents from all over Iran have come to collect their children. We have seen the … Continue reading
Donya (2003): “You Have Exhumed My Life.”
When we first see real estate mogul, Hadj Reza Enayat (Mohamad Reza Sharifinia) he is collapsed in a chair, his swollen feet being washed by his whining wife (Gohar Kheirandish). Hadj is a grotesque person, in our first impression. He … Continue reading
The Importance Of “As If”: Women Without Men (2009)
A group of intellectuals and artists sit around a table in a restaurant, drinking wine, and talking about Camus and democracy. Camus’ comments on freedom are approved of by some in the group, and rejected by another, who argues that … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged historical drama, Iran, Iranian film, politics, reviews, Shabnam Toloui
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Film Forum: Jafar Panahi’s This Is Not a Film
Imprisoned Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s This Is Not a Film opens at the New York’s Film Forum today and runs through March 13. I put it on my Top 10 list for the year. There is nothing happening in the … Continue reading
Eyes on Iran
Iranian documentary filmmaker Mojtaba Mirtahmasb has been released from Evin Prison after three months in jail. He was arrested with five other documentary filmmakers, all of whom have been released as well. Jafar Panahi still sits in jail. Here is … Continue reading
NYFF 2011: This Is Not a Film. Hyperbole Is Inadequate.
Imprisoned Iranian director Jafar Panahi (whom I have written about ad nauseum on my site, and hosted the Iranian Film Blogathon in his honor last year) and his colleague Mojtaba Mirtahmasb (imprisoned on September 17 of this year) shot This … Continue reading
NYFF 2011: This Is Not a Film (d. Jafar Panahi)
Originally published on Capital New York. Context is required for This Is Not a Film. Award-winning Iranian director Jafar Panahi was arrested on March 10, 2010, on suspicion of making a film critical of the current regime. International outcry was … Continue reading
NYFF 2011: A Separation: Separation? More Like a Giant Abyss
From director Asghar Farhadi (I was in love with his Fireworks Wednesday from 2007) comes another tense devastating drama. Not to be missed. I was a wreck by the end of it. Definitely one of the best films of the … Continue reading
NYFF 2011: Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation
Originally published at Capital New York, for my coverage of the 2011 New York Film Festival The events in Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, unfold with chaos and yet inevitability, … Continue reading
The Hunt For the Mashad Ripper: The Forbidden Chapter (2006)
A serial killer is murdering prostitutes in Mashad, Iran. Habib, a detective, unsuccessfully trying to detox from drug addiction, returns to Mashad, his hometown (his whispering voiceover recurs through the film, mournful, haunting, “City of memories … city of happiness … Continue reading